All of the above drinks contain about the same amount of alcohol, despite their different sizes. Depending on the recipe, a mixed drink may contain one, two, or more standard drinks, as shown in a cocktail content calculator from the National Institutes of Health (see /cocktail). For example, any amount of drinking increases the risk of breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Alcohol makes you dehydrated and makes blood vessels in your body and brain expand.
Check your drinking
If you go above that amount, however, the risk rises exponentially (see “What is a standard drink?”). While drinking in moderation is safe for most individuals, excessive alcohol intake and abuse can have detrimental effects on your physical and mental health. This, in turn, increases the risk of liver failure and liver cancer. In the short term, drinking alcohol can cause dehydration, which can lead to headaches, fatigue, and dizziness.
- Acetaldehyde is a toxin that can damage the body’s organs and tissues before it is further broken down into acetate.
- Overdoing it with booze occasionally, like at a wedding or birthday party, might be fine (though your headache the next morning might make you think otherwise).
- Most of the alcohol is broken down in the liver by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH).
- These effects may be more serious and more noticeable if you drink regularly and tend to have more than 1 or 2 drinks when you do.
- During early-stage liver disease, fibrosis is often reversible if alcohol use is permanently stopped.
- Alcohol use can cause sexual dysfunction, such as difficulty achieving or maintaining an erection and decreased sexual sensations.
National and International Drinking Guidelines
The morning after a night of over-imbibing can cause some temporary effects on your brain. Things like trouble concentration, slow reflexes and sensitivity to bright lights and loud sounds are standard signs of a hangover, and evidence of alcohol’s effects on your brain. If you drink every day, or almost every day, you might notice that you catch colds, flu or other illnesses more frequently than people who don’t drink. That’s because alcohol can weaken your immune system, slow healing and make your body more susceptible to infection. But there’s plenty of research to back up the notion that alcohol does lead to weight gain in general.
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These contributors included both experts external to NIAAA as well as NIAAA staff. Acknowledging an alcohol dependency problem is the first step toward recovery. Treatment is available in many forms, including support groups and professional services. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in 2019, nearly 15 million people in the United States had an alcohol use problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, 3 million deaths every year result from the harmful use of alcohol.
In conclusion, alcohol consumption can have negative effects on both mental and emotional health. It is important to be aware of the potential risks and to seek help if necessary. Alcohol can have a detrimental effect on brain function, especially when consumed in excess over a long period of time. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse famous fetal alcohol syndrome and Alcoholism, alcohol can cause brain damage, leading to cognitive impairment and dementia 1.
If you have cirrhosis and the liver is still relatively functional, you are said to have compensated cirrhosis and not experience any notable symptoms. However, when scarring is severe enough to impair the function of your liver, you are said to have cirrhosis. Additionally, there are many community-based organizations and support groups available for individuals in recovery from alcohol addiction. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a well-known support group that provides a 12-step program for individuals in recovery from alcohol addiction. Other support groups, such as SMART Recovery, provide alternative approaches to recovery. Dysfunctional drinking can also lead to malnourishment and vitamin deficiencies.
How much alcohol a person drinks, genetic factors, gender, body mass, and general state of health all influence how a person responds to alcohol. The less alcohol you drink, the lower your risk for these health effects, including several types of cancer. Excessive alcohol use is a term used to describe four ways that people drink alcohol that can negatively impact health. Binge drinking is drinking enough alcohol to raise one’s BAC to 0.08% or above. Women typically reach this level after about four drinks and men after about five drinks in two hours.